THE absolute divorce bill approved by the House of Representatives mandates child support for children of divorced parents and provides alimony to offended spouses, its principal author, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, told The Manila Times Thursday.

House Bill (HB) 9349, the proposed Absolute Divorce Act, hurdled the third and final reading at the House on May 22 and has been transmitted to the Senate, where conservative senators said it was in for rough sailing.

The Philippines is the only country in the world outside the Vatican that does not have a divorce law.

"In our proposal, alimony is for three years while the offended spouse has not secured a decent job or has not remarried," Lagman told The Times' live streaming program "PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia."

The bill defines alimony as "spousal support adjudged in the divorce decree by the family court" in favor of the offended spouse against the offending spouse.

The three-year period would start from the finality of the divorce decree. This period may be extended by the court if the offended spouse entitled to support is a senior citizen, a person with disability, or has limited educational attainment.

"Unless otherwise agreed upon in a marriage settlement executed before the celebration of the marriage, the conjugal partnership of gains or the absolute community shall be dissolved and liquidated and the assets shall be equally divided between the spouses excluding the... exclusive properties of either spouse, in accordance with the Family Code of the Philippines," the bill reads.

"We are continuing the parental relation between the divorced parents and their children," Lagman continued.

He said primary custody would be given to the innocent spouse.

The bill states that custody of minor children, and visitation rights of the party not granted primary custody, shall be decided by the proper family court "in accordance with the best interests of the children, subject to the provisions of Article 213 of the Family Code of the Philippines."

However, children under 7 years old must remain with their mother unless the court funds "compelling reasons to order otherwise."

Also, the bill bars child custody from being given to the offending spouse when it comes to certain grounds for divorce.

"The children must have support," Lagman said in Filipino. He said without a divorce law, children of a broken marriage are often left without support.

"The court shall give the paramount consideration to the best interest of the children in accordance with Article 194 of the Family Code of the Philippines," the bill reads.

"In considering the award of support, the proper Family Court shall consider relevant circumstances of the case, and of the parties. On application of either party, the proper Family Court may order an increase or decrease in the amount of support upon showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances," it added.

"In case the offending spouse is an overseas Filipino, a copy of the order to grant spousal and child support shall be furnished to the Department of Migrant Workers and the overseas Filipino's employer for compliance," it says.

In the Philippines, there is no divorce except among Muslims.

Lagman told PrimeTimes that the divorce bill is part of public discourse and is "not a religious issue."

"This is a recognition that some marriages would fail, and there's a need for the state to rescue couples... their children from a house on fire and then also give the opportunity to the aggrieved spouse, in most cases the battered woman or the abandoned wife, to regain her freedom, her self-esteem, her agency, and also her happiness," Lagman said.

Under the bill, the petition for absolute divorce can be filed in court by a spouse or jointly by the spouses within 10 years "from the occurrence or discovery of the cause for divorce or from the effectivity of the Absolute Divorce Act, whichever comes later."

The bill mandates public prosecutors to investigate to determine whether the spouses are colluding or whether either coerced the other to file the petition.

Grounds for absolute divorce under the bill include physical violence or "grossly abusive conduct" towards the petitioner, a common child, or the petitioner's child; a final sentence to imprisonment of over six years; drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, or chronic gambling; bigamous marriage; and marital infidelity, perversion, having a child with a person other than the spouse, except if they agreed to have a child through in vitro fertilization or a similar procedure or if the wife was raped and got pregnant.

Also among the grounds were moral pressure to change religious or political affiliation; attempt to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, of the petitioner's child to engage in prostitution, "or connivance in such corruption or inducement;" homosexuality; making an attempt on the petitioner's life, a common child, or the petitioner's child; and abandonment without justifiable cause for over a year.

Either spouse is allowed to seek absolute divorce if they have been legally separated for over two years.

Grounds for annulment under Article 45 of the Family Code, as modified in the bill, were also grounds for absolute divorce under the bill.

Separation in fact for at least five years with "highly improbable" reconciliation; psychological incapacity, whether it "existed at the time of the marriage or supervenes after the marriage;" and irreconcilable differences were also grounds for absolute divorce under the bill.

The bill includes psychological and emotional violence, sexual violence, or economic abuse as grounds for absolute divorce.

"When one of the spouses undergoes a sex reassignment surgery or transitions from one sex to another, the other spouse is entitled to petition for absolute divorce with the transgender or transsexual as respondent, or vice versa," it reads.

HB 9349 mandates a 60-day period after a divorce petition is filed wherein the court must make efforts to reconcile the parties, unless it is a summary judicial proceeding or involves cases of violence.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of House Bill (HB) 9349, titled 'An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage', shares his thoughts on the bill in interviews with PrimeTimes with Atty. Lia at The Manila Times office and during the 'Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel' hosted by former senator Joey Lina in Manila on Thursday, June 13, 2024. PHOTO BY RENE H. DILAN 0-02-06-f51f652fa7e5038ce96edb22d2267461667ca8af0366f47003ac00ab37e39968_591233f118eada8b 0-02-06-a1021430f4fecf1d5ee090791c41b220fdbadbdc8192450b1de22cc110cba449_ed064f81ae0cd438 0-02-06-bcd906080aa7f0f5d9abb8704d7835f24ab97c5fc03d03c2ed0a8acaf3a57639_428bd82222796c8e

Under the bill, an absolute divorce means the marriage is dissolved and the divorcees can remarry.

The bill recognizes a valid foreign divorce, which must be authenticated.

With six of 24 senators expressing their opposition to the divorce bill, the measure's fate remains uncertain in the Senate.

The six senators known to have disagreed with the divorce bill include Senate President Francis Escudero, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, and Sens. Joel Villanueva and Ronald dela Rosa.

On Tuesday, Escudero said he opposes the divorce bill approved by the House of Representatives, stating that it does not make the process accessible to the poor.

"The bill expands the grounds, but PAO (Public Attorney's Office) has no mechanism to handle these cases, so only the rich who can afford lawyers will benefit. What about the poor when we're supposed to do this for them?" the Senate chief argued.

Estrada, who conducted an informal survey on the senators' stance on the divorce bill, said he opposes the measure but did not say why.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who has been vocal about his position against divorce, on Tuesday said he is a "conservative senator" who is "pro-family and pro-life."

Pimentel said on Tuesday that he could not vote for the measure after seeing the contents of the House bill on divorce, saying the bill was "too liberal."

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, the main proponent of the Senate version of the divorce bill, and Sens. Robin Padilla, Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Pia Cayetano and Raffy Tulfo support the measure.

Hontiveros' Committee on Women and Family Relations approved the bill's Senate version last year, but it has not been forwarded to the plenary for interpellation.

WITH BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO